Winter in full swing!

Wow, it was cold here on Friday! It got down to 6C and it was bitter! The day before was the shortest day of the year and it was dark at 4.30pm...

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Funny, I would still prefer a freezing cold day over a stinking hot 38C day!

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You can see those clouds, that is rain coming!

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Proof on my dash board that it was 6C (that was at 1pm).

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Thank goodness our reverse cycle air-con is working again!

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I spent most of Saturday prepping for a dinner party we were having. Gee, its been a long time since we've had company over for a proper sit down meal. 

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I wanted to make a fruit coulis for my cheesecakes and had bought an expensive bag ($8.50) of mixed frozen berries (Australian). The bag contained big, pale insipid looking strawberries and not many berries at all.   What raspberries there were in there, were just crumbs and I think there was 3 blackberries! I'll never be buying that brand again.

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I went and bought fresh blue berries, raspberries and strawberries...still expensive but fresh!

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I piped these chocolate flowers too...

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I browned off the (10) lamb shanks before adding them to my slow cooker and le Creuset dutch oven.  I had to cook two batches as they were so big!

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I did bean bundles and this worked great as I knew I had the exact amount for us all.  I'll be doing that again.

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As for the mashed potato, I thought I had plenty but only just had enough...  :(

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I made the sauce base using tinned tomatoes, carrot, celery, onion and garlic. I have some Moroccan spice mix so I put in two big heaped tablespoons of that and half a cup of red wine.  Then I let them slow cook for hours until tender.

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The table was set...

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Gus did the entrée on the barbecue -charred prawns with a red pepper mayonnaise...

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The lamb shanks were beautiful and tender and tasty...

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My cheesecakes with berry coulis were perfect! Such an easy dessert - prepared at 10am and popped in the fridge until needed.

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I really just made up this recipe - so here goes:

In a food processor, whizz a packet of Arnott's Marie or similar sweet biscuits until a coarse crumb, then add in 100gms melted butter and combine.   Spoon the crumb mix into large wine glasses - mine were stemless ones.
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I slightly softened a block of Philadelphia cream cheese then whipped it with electric beaters, once smooth, I added about 150 - 200 mls of cream, a heaped tablespoon of icing sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice - you can make it sweeter and more lemony to your taste.  Carefully spoon the cheese mix on top of the crumbs.  I made a berry coulis with fresh berries (as above) and added a little caster sugar to sweeten.  You can whiz it a bit with a stab blender or leave it more lumpy if you like.  Spoon this over the cheesecake.  Dollop with cream and add the chocolate flowers if you wish.
This is a great dessert as you can prepare it earlier and pop it in the fridge.  I would imagine a mango or apricot coulis would be yummy too! Gee, I hope yours turn out! :)
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Sitting here this morning, wishing I had made an extra one for today!

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Good food, good wine and good friends - it doesn't get better than that!

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Now I must wash all the glassware!

Cheers - Joolz xx

A visit from our Italian friends...

Last Saturday, we waited at Adelaide Airport to greet Kirby's host family (she did a 3 week school exchange in 2006) from Turin, Italy. They had been in Australia since July 25 and flew in from Alice Springs after seeing Perth, training across to Adelaide on the Indian Pacific then training to the Alice on The Ghan. It was so good to see them again since we last saw them on our last visit to Turin in October, 2010. Kirby made a cute sign to greet them with. They loved it!

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Bri gets in on the act!
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We took them to the Barossa Valley and stayed with a friend at Tanunda. She put on a lovely roast lamb dinner for us.
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Charmaine was such a gracious hostess and she got to practice her Italian on our friends. It was wonderful to hear so much laughter from mis-pronunciations and corrections. A fun night.
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Delicious roast lamb, fresh greens and roasted root vegetables
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Mengler's Hill Lookout - you can see the whole Barossa Valley for miles around
~Three amigos!
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Bare vines in winter...
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(River Lane House, river view)
On Sunday, we explored Tanunda a bit more, tasting some wines and then moving on to Angaston for lunch. We then drove to Mannum on the Murray River where we had booked a house for the night.
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River Lane House
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I was a little bit mean and made Chiara taste Vegemite all over again! Then some Promite too! She said Promite smelled worse than Vegemite tasted! He he!
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Angus cooked a barbecue dinner and Kirby and I did some salads and baked vegetables ...
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We exchanged gifts and Gus received this wonderful wine book. He put it to good use back in Adelaide, buying some Italian wines to enjoy on our last night together.
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Giorgio has had a book published about their travels to Africa, illustrated with pictures and collages...
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Inside our copy, he had drawn this cute picture with an inscription to "our Aussie friends". Another treasure!
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Tiziana, Chiara and Giorgio enjoyed some of my Anzac biscuits I gave them.
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Monday morning we vacated the house and took a 2 hour luncheon cruise on The Proud Mary. This gave us a great opportunity to see the Murray in all its glory.
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We had a lovely buffet lunch while choofing upstream...
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Enjoying the sun off the back of the boat... La vita e bella! (life is good)
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A little champagne was in order to celebrate...
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I think they had a fine time!
~An international friendship formed in 2006...
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Oh, dear!
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The Murray River, South Australia
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After our cruise, we headed for Hahndorf for a look around...
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We visited The Lane Winery which is owned by a friend of Gus'.
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We had a lovely cup of coffee and cake at Chocolate @ No. 5
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Then it was back to Adelaide for a few hours rest before heading out to dinner at
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Red Ochre Grill - the menu is here. We tasted crocodile, kangaroo, barramundi and more...
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On Tuesday, we left our guests to wander Adelaide city - The SALA Festival was on so there were lots of places to explore including the Adelaide Museum and SA Art Gallery. Giorgio is a talented photographer and sketch artist so they enjoyed their free time.
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(Giorgio Enrica Barramundi - his new Australian name)
Tuesday evening we dined at Concubine on Gouger Street - ...
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Angus brought along his wine book and Giorgio kindly did a cute illustration in the front - so funny!
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One of the dishes we enjoyed was the whole Robarra barramundi steamed with ginger and shallot (below - photo by Concubine)

After dinner, it was time to say our goodbyes - they were off to Melbourne by train early on Wednesday morning. We had a wonderful few days with them, showing them our state of South Australia and I am sure they enjoyed themselves.
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We have been invited to visit them next year in Turin and go to The Black Forest in Southwestern Germany with them - how can we refuse?
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Cheers - Joolz